


Rise of the Serpent-Year 1

by Mari_kel



Series: Rise of the Gemini-Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Original Work, Rise of the Gemini - A. E. Ryker
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Asexual Ayvn Ayres (Rise of the Gemini), Asexual Character, Avyn is Trying Her Best, Bullying, Can't Stress that enough folks, Canon? Don't Know Her, Demisexual Markel (Rise of the Gemini), Fluff, Gen, Hogwarts First Year, I'm doing what I want, Magical Creatures, Markel is Terrifyingly Cute, Markel is a Vulture-Harpy, Misuse of Harry Potter Lore, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character Cast - Freeform, Unpublished Original Work Referenced, it's a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mari_kel/pseuds/Mari_kel
Summary: Avyn Ayres is the great-grandaughter of the last Dark Lord, Ni Arova. It's been decades since her short but brutal reign of terror and Wizarding Britain hasn't forgotten or forgiven. Avyn is unfortunately a carbon copy of her infamous ancestor. When the new headmaster of Hogwarts extends an unexpected invitation for her to attend the school, Avyn agrees. Follow Avyn through her first year as she tries to make friends, learn magic, and separate herself from her great-grandmother's lingering legacy.However, something else has entered Hogwarts and it sees Avyn as the tool to fulfill Ni Arova's goals. Will Avyn find and defeat this unknown enemy in time or will she, however unwillingly, help finish her great-grandmother's work of purging every non-human magical creature from the world?*Edit: Now with art!
Relationships: Avyn Ayres & Carter Weston (Rise of the Gemini), Avyn Ayres & Markel (Rise of the Gemini), Original Female Character & Original Female Character (Rise of the Gemini)
Series: Rise of the Gemini-Hogwarts AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581421
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Avyn Ayres and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! Thanks for checking out my fic!
> 
> It's a bit weird because I'm actually a bit confused of how to properly "tag" everything, but I've done my best. This story is a fan-fic of my own original story "Rise of the Gemini." I tagged it as "Rise of the Gemini" and as "Original Work" because the books aren't published but I feel like the world and characters are more developed than most single stand-alone original works I've seen on AO3 before? And I'm hoping to expand more AUs using the same core characters and themes? I'm a bit unsure of the proper etiquette so please let me know if I've missed something big!
> 
> Also! I am an American and this is reflected A LOT in my writing. I've tried to use the "Britishisms" where I can remember, but honestly, it's not a lot. Avyn wasn't raised in Britain and that's my excuse as to why her thoughts and narration don't reflect it lol.

Avyn stood in the large marble foyer of Arova Manor, watching Papa dart back and forth, their two house-elves, Mip and Pip, prickly shadows behind him. He checked her luggage by hand, only uttering the occasional simple spell here and there.

“Papa…” Avyn said but he didn’t hear. Instead, Erik Ayres flicked open the locks, clothing and books shifting away as he hurriedly quadrupled checked everything.

“Master—

“—you have already checked—

“—the young Mistress’ luggage—

“—seven times since yesterday,” Mip and Pip, young by house-elf standards and even rarer twin elves, said to Papa. He ignored them and finished looking through Avyn’s trunk.

On her shoulder Ankaa, Avyn’s russet barn owl familiar, twitched, nipping at Avyn’s ear. She felt the bird’s annoyance and automatically reached up to stroke the owl’s neck. Finally, Papa finished his inspection and rearranged all of her belongings.

“Alright Avyn, are you ready to go to King’s Cross?” He asked, hands trembling behind his back. Avyn, the elves, and Ankaa all knew about their shaking, but no one _said_ it to Papa’s face.

“Yes, Papa,” Avyn said instead. She clicked her tongue and with only a mild grumble Ankaa stepped up onto her hand and allowed Avyn to put her in the metal cage. The barn owl’s black eyes glared at Avyn as she shut the cage. _You know it’s just until we get to Hogwarts._ Ankaa chuffed and turned away to preen her feathers.

“Do you have everything? Not that I can’t send you mail, of course, but I don’t want you to be missing any required supplies—”

“It’s fine Papa.” Avyn interrupted before Papa could work himself up. She knew he was more excited and stressed about her attending Hogwarts than Avyn was. Papa was, after all, the one who almost completely missed out on his wizarding education. He was so worried Avyn would be forced to do the same. “I have everything I need. We went to Diagon Alley twice, remember? There’s doubles of everything.”

All except a wand which Ollivander would not part with unless Avyn broke her own she had originally gotten from Gregorovitch: hawthorn, twelve inches, with a phoenix feather core. He had tried to get her one of his own wands, muttering about Gregorovitch’s work but Avyn was happy with her wand, thank you very much.

They had bought so many school supplies several witches and wizards asked Papa if he had a second child home sick. Of course, then Avyn would turn towards them they’d see her _face_ and realize exactly who they were talking to and scurry away, eyes wide and faces pale. Papa would call hesitantly out that they just wanted to be prepared and Avyn would roll her eyes at their cowardice. Running from an eleven-year-old?

But now it was September 1st and Avyn needed to get to King’s Cross lest she be late and miss the train.

“It’s alright Papa, I have everything,” she said and held out her hand. Papa’s nervous twitching subsided, and he smiled down at her before taking her hand. Avyn’s black robes shifted as she stepped forward.

“Alright Avyn, I know but I just worry,” he leaned down and pressed a kiss on her forehead. Avyn allowed this and smiled up at him when he pulled back. They both placed their hands on Avyn’s cart and with a goodbye to Mip and Pip, Papa apparated them to King’s Cross Station.

~*~*~*~*~

The first thing Avyn saw was people.

 _Tons of people_.

She knew they’d be here, but it was still an unwelcome sight she scrunched her nose up at. Avyn didn’t like crowds, having grown up in the small Russian village outside of Koldovstoretz and then a small community in the U.S. before moving back to her family’s ancestral manor when she was ten and Headmaster Llewellyn sent her a Hogwarts letter.

Avyn had no siblings and aside from Papa didn’t speak to many witches and wizards regularly. She was much more comfortable with her legion of books and her people skills were…lacking. Papa had tried to resolve this at one point, but no one was fooled by their name change, Arov/a to Ayres, and no British witch or wizard would allow their child within fifty feet of Avyn.

Papa’s hand tightened around her own as they made their ways through the crowd, witches and wizards immediately spotting them. Brows furrowed at the sight of Papa but once they saw Avyn they parted around her, an invisible force propelling them all away. Avyn didn’t react but Papa frowned and started walking faster. They went through the wall and arrived at Platform 9 ¾ without incident.

The old-fashioned red train whistled in front of them. People were starting to stare, whispers and murmurs pressing in on all sides. Papa tried to ignore them, but his face twisted before he looked down at Avyn, who _did_ ignore them, face forcibly blank and unbothered.

“I’m very proud of you, Avyn,” Papa said as he knelt by her side. Avyn blinked in surprise, tilting her head to the side.

“For what?” She hadn’t done anything remarkable recently…well, remarkable that _didn’t_ cause Papa a headache. Avyn could stop her eyes from flickering to Ankaa who was puffed up and glaring at the surrounding witches and wizards. At Avyn’s glance, her familiar turned back to her and chirped.

“For being you, of course. You’re very smart and loyal and brave and ambitious, Avyn,” Papa said. Avyn noticed the _theme_ of the words immediately and wondered if they were code. Papa was usually not very subtle. He tripped over his anxiety, unable to stay still enough for subtility. “No matter what house you’re sorted into, I’ll _always_ be proud of you. Try to enjoy yourself, make friends, experience _everything_ ,” Papa smiled widely, tears brimming in his eyes. Papa cried for both of them.

Avyn smiled and reached forward to hug him. Papa’s large warm hands rubbed up and down her back and Avyn pushed down the childish protest that she didn’t want to go to Hogwarts, didn’t want to leave him.

It was true and not at the same time.

Hogwarts, or _any_ wizarding school for that matter, could give a much better education than the tutors Papa had lined up for her before Headmaster Llewellyn had sent them her letter. Avyn wanted the opportunities but she didn’t want the people that came with them.

If only Avyn was the _only_ student at Hogwarts…but that wasn’t possible. Avyn didn’t want to face the hostile faces every day for seven years until she eventually graduated and could fade into forgotten anonymity ( _hopefully_ ).

But Papa wanted this _so badly_ for her.

He never got to go to Hogwarts, he never got to have magic friends until he was older. So Avyn had to be brave for Papa, to look into the eyes of all those that hated her and sneer back, unaffected by them. (And if she secretly wanted to be _better_ than _all_ of them and rub that superiority like salt in their self-inflicted wounds…well…Papa didn’t have to know.)

“I will, Papa, I’ll write you when I get there and at least once a week after that,” Avyn promised. Papa chuckled and pulled back only to ruffle her hair. Avyn huffed and ran her hands over it, smoothing down the white bob until it laid flat.

“I’d _love_ to hear from you, but don’t pressure yourself to keep up that schedule, okay?” Avyn nodded when it became obvious, he wasn’t going to continue until she agreed. “I love you, little bird. Go get on the train and find someone to sit with.”

~*~*~*~*~

One last hug and kiss later Avyn turned away and walked towards the cherry red train. She glanced back over her shoulder once and waved to Papa before climbing on board. _Sorry Papa._

Avyn fingered her wand and muttered a silent charm under her breath, _reveal empty container_ , and kept walking until one of the white doors shimmered and revealed an empty cabin. Avyn immediately walked in and placed her luggage in the overhead compartment before letting Ankaa out of her cage.

The owl squawked and settled down on the perch Avyn transfigured from her cage bars. She bought this cage specifically because it was charmed to easily transfigure. This may be the last peace she had for a while (shared dorms sounded like the _worst_ thing humanly possible) and Avyn wasn’t going to waste it.

She had one of the last empty cabins and most of the other students had boarded so Avyn hoped she wouldn’t be interrupted, or at the very least her unfortunate reputation would have them hurrying along and _not_ taking one of her empty seats. Luck was on Avyn’s side (for once) and her door was only opened twice before the train chugged away from the station.

The first time it was opened by an older student, a Hufflepuff, who took one look at Avyn’s pure white hair and slammed the door shut. Avyn didn’t even raise her head from her book. The second was by another first-year, a tiny wisp of a girl who took one look at her and burst into tears.

“D-don’t h-hurt me,” she cried and stumbled back out into the hallway. _Must be a pureblood_. Avyn thought calmly and flipped a page of her book. She could hear other kids reassuring the young one and someone must have peered through the door that was still cracked open. Avyn heard a gasp before the white door was slammed shut, and heavy thumping footsteps pounded away from her cabin. Ankaa did an intricate _hoot, chirp, hiss_ dance on her perch.

“Yes, I agree they’re idiots,” Avyn said and flipped another page in her charms book. She knew she really should be looking over herbology, her worst subject, but Avyn was treating herself with the latest Air-Charms Extraordinaire magazine she’d convinced Papa to buy at Flourish and Blotts.

Ankaa hooted again and Avyn snorted, raising her head to look into the black eyes of her familiar. “I’m not turning them into mice, you _know_ I’m bad at live transfiguration.” It was one time, a frog into an umbrella and Avyn ran crying to Papa as the amphibian’s body expanded but kept its two little eyes and arms at the umbrella’s tip. It croaked and Avyn was convinced she had made a cursed object accidentally.

Ankaa rolled her head and Avyn snorted. “I’m not using a gigantification charm on you, either.” Ankaa twittered but Avyn didn’t respond and the two lapsed into silence.

Avyn only looked up from her book again as the entire train lurched and started to move forward. She looked out the window as the station disappeared behind them (she knew Papa had already apparated back. Too many people had seen them together for him to safely stay at the station) and melted away into hilly green countryside.

She barely resisted the urge to put a locking charm on the door to prevent any others from entering her cabin but Avyn thought that _might_ be a bit excessive, especially once they found out who had cast the locking charm in the first place. Instead, she cast a general, _notice-me-not_ charm and settled back with her magazine.

After about an hour of travel, someone knocked on her door.

“Sweet cart!” the trolley witch called out and then proceeded to open the door before Avyn could stop her. They both stared awkwardly at each other. Avyn reluctantly sat up and patted down her hair while the trolley witch’s eyes went wide, darting from her silver eyes to her white hair. _They all forget I’m a child._ Avyn thought bitterly as the woman stumbled out her wares.

“My father provided me with snacks,” Avyn said, her voice monotone. The trolley witch nodded and without any other interaction shut the door. Papa had _meant_ the snacks to be for her and her cabin mates but honestly, they both knew that was a little too far-fetched. Instead, Avyn laid back down on the seat, this time on her stomach with her feet kicking out behind her as she finished up her magazine.

The first year would be especially bad, she knew. Maybe the other years would get better as people were generally forced to get used to her presence. But this year, this year would be miserable.

People would jump and flinch away from her several times. They wouldn’t talk _to_ her, only about her. She would be a pariah. The _only_ hope she had was Avyn wasn’t the only controversial person invited to attend Hogwarts this year.

Headmaster Llewellyn had also allowed the first fully non-human student to attend Hogwarts.

Avyn remembered reading about it in the papers, published two weeks after the paper about her own scandalous invitation. Several students with mixed-magic blood had started attending Hogwarts after the last Purity War and it started to snowball. More and more humanoid magical creatures wanted entry, claimed their children had a right to be taught the same magic as witches and wizards.

The Ministry and Board of Governors fought over it until a narrow margin came out and allowed the entry of one fully non-human student as a test run.

One they obviously wanted to fail because the student was a _vulture-harpy_. But still, maybe the harpy will take all the attention away from Avyn and she’ll fade into the background.

~*~*~*~*~

The train pulled to a stop at the Hogwarts station and Avyn hadn’t seen another person for the entire ride. She stood, already in her school robes, and prepared to de-embark.

“It’s time Ankaa,” Avyn said to the bird who puffed herself up but with only a faint grumble flew to Avyn’s shoulder as she untransfigured her perch. The cage popped back into existence and Avyn shooed Ankaa inside.

“We both know it’s just until I get settled, then you’ll be out. This if for your own safety too, you know?” Ankaa twittered but didn’t bother to nip at Avyn’s fingers which she was grateful for. Blood on books was always messy and Avyn was _bad_ at healing spells. She knew the theories but that didn’t translate into her magic behaving the way she wanted it to.

With Ankaa secure in her cage and her two charmed trunks on the ground, Avyn prepared herself for the inevitable. She could hear people milling around outside, most likely older years. She had read up on her books in the Manor and she knew first years were separated and taken to the castle by boats according to _Hogwarts: A History._

Avyn needed to be with the other first years so she needed to be outside with them.

Which meant leaving her cabin and walking through a crowd of people.

Avyn took a deep breath, steeled herself and her expression and opened her cabin door. For a blissful three seconds, everything was fine. She was anonymous, just another student. But then someone caught sight of her.

They froze, a small gasp interrupting their conversation. That, in turn, caused a chain reaction of other students stopping to stare at the first one and then the source. The effect rippled outward like a stone dropped in a lake until the entire visible hallway stared at Avyn Ayres in a horrified fascination.

 _You’ll all catch flies like that._ Avyn wanted to say at the open-mouthed faces. They _knew_ she was going to be here! It was in the papers! But Avyn remained silent and simply walked forward. The nearest students leaped out of the way, afraid of even touching her skin.

She pulled her lightened luggage forward and the crowded hall squished and parted itself and not a single body touched her own. Avyn stepped off the Hogwarts express, and the effect continued as she walked towards the woman shouting for first-years to gather around her. Avyn kept her eyes forward as the whispers started behind her, paid no attention to them as she pulled her luggage and stopped a good distance away from the woman calling for first years. Even the woman (a professor?) faltered when she caught sight of Avyn continuing.

As all of the first years gathered around there was a noticeable bubble between Avyn and the others. An unmarked line that no one dared cross lest they be _associated_ with her.

As the train emptied and all the first years gathered near the woman, who eventually introduced herself as Professor Madeline Pearce. Avyn scanned the faces of the other first years but most who knew who she was (purebloods or halfbloods) refused to meet her eyes.

If she looked at them too long, took too much interest, tears would start to well up in their eyes. _They’re so childish._ Avyn pouted to herself, trying not to give in to the temptation to open Ankaa’s cage and cuddle the barn owl. The other children who _didn’t_ know Avyn’s history didn’t pay much attention to her. Those few drifted closer, broke the contamination circle set by the others but on a subconscious level didn’t drift _too_ close.

“Alright, children! Let’s go to the boats and your sorting ceremony!” Professor Pearce called and started walking towards the dock. Avyn followed obediently behind and then they arrived at the tiny boats with small lanterns glowing on their bows. Avyn thought she saw a flash of deep blue at the corner of her vision but it was lost in the sea of black robes.

Avyn chose to get in the boat with Professor Pearce because she was positive they’d all have to share boats and it would be better to do so around an adult. That way Avyn could just stare at the water and if other kids started to cry they _couldn’t_ blame her.

“Children! We have some spots here in my boat! Please gather together!” Professor Pearce called as the boats filled and other eleven-year-olds hadn’t found their spots. Avyn huddled in the farthest corner of her own boat, holding Ankaa’s cage in her hands. The owl cooed and chirped at her and Avyn focused on Ankaa’s russet feathers and not the grumbling kids forced to get in her boat.

“She’s so _creepy_ ,” Avyn heard one of the boys whisper under their breath and she tightened her hands around Ankaa’s cage.

Avyn didn’t speak as they rowed to Hogwarts. The boys and one girl next to her gasped in awe at the floating candles hanging above the lake as the stone castle rose up on a hill in the distance. Its lights were visible from here, pinpricks at the distance whose sharp and pointy spires reached up to graze the sky. It was impressive, the reconstruction was perfect.

 _You can’t even tell it was torn to the ground._ Avyn thought as Ankaa pressed herself to the cage bars to nibble at Avyn’s fingers. Mindlessly, she stuck her fingers between the cage bars and stroked Ankaa’s feathers.

The boats drifted to shore and Avyn followed as everyone was let into the Great Hall. Avyn looked around with the other kids in wonder at the stone walls and suits of armor. But where the kids gasped in awe at the ghosts, Avyn bowed her head and tried not to shake with fear as their spectral eyes locked onto her. Avyn felt their intent change, rippling in the air like a heavy physical presence.

She gripped her luggage tighter, as the shrieks rose, and several ghostly bodies pushed through to crowd around her. All manner of faces, young and old, men and women, students and adults, yelled and screamed at her as the living were obscured and she was left with the dead, wearing a dead tyrant’s face.

_Murderer!_

_Betrayer!_

_You should have never returned here Ni!_

_We’ll never let you leave!_

Their voices merged together until Avyn dropped her luggage to press her hands over her ears, forcing herself not to cry as the icy ghostly hands tried to grab and pull at her. It felt like an eternity until a strong voice echoed down the hallway.

“Ghosts! Let go of that student!” A tall woman parted the first years and with a wave of her wand, a line of fire rose in the air to repel the ghosts. They let Avyn go with a grumble, whispering promises of pain before they were forced to leave.

“Are you alright?” The tall woman stopped next to Avyn and laid a hand on her shoulder. Avyn’s gasp was mirrored by at least twenty other students. Someone had dared to _touch_ her.

She slowly lowered her hands to stare up at the tall woman. She had dark skin and tight wavy black hair. Her eyes were dark and the sclera around them was black. _She’s not fully human._ Avyn realized as she stared dumbly up at the woman. “Young lady, are you alright? Do you need to go to the infirmary?” The woman repeated. Avyn’s cheeks flushed and she dropped her head to stare at her shiny black shoes.

“No ma’am,” Avyn muttered and the woman sighed before letting go of Avyn’s shoulder.

“Alright, but if you feel bad for any reason, please do not hesitate to inform your head of house or an older student to take you to the infirmary wing.” She continued as if Avyn was a regular student who could ask anyone such a simple question.

But Avyn had already made a scene, so she just nodded and the tall woman continued on her way. Professor Pearce gathered the group’s attention back to her and they continued to the Great Hall without further incident. Before they walked through the tall doors, they dropped their luggage off in a corner to be taken to their new dorm after the sorting. Avyn whispered goodbye to Ankaa and stroked the owl’s feathers one last time for good luck.

Professor Pearce had them all gather as she and the tall woman opened the doors together, revealing the long wooden banquet tables, and high above them the charmed night sky. Avyn looked up at the magic in wonder, the sight was one thing she had been looking forward to most in coming here. It had all been restored, no longer the crumbling ashy heap that was pictured in her history of magic textbook.

“We will now start the sorting!” A man’s voice called from the raised platform at the back of the Great Hall. The man was none other than Headmaster Llewellyn. Avyn recognized his voice from interviews he’d given explaining his decision to allow her and the vulture-harpy to attend Hogwarts. She knew he was young, but it was still shocking to see his barely lined golden skin and hair next to an aging faculty. “Please welcome our new first years!” Clapping roared from the four tables as the Avyn and the other first years stepped completely into the hall. Right in front of the teacher’s raised platform sat a stool and the sorting-hat on top.

The old ratty thing opened its brim and sang the famous song as the tall woman who’d helped Avyn stepped forward until she stood right next to it. Once the hat was finished and settled back on its stool, she took out a scroll from her long and billowy sleeves.

“Avyn Ayres!” She called and any remaining chatting died in the hall. It was deathly silent as Avyn stepped forward. Her new shoes echoed loudly on the stone steps, each step loud as thunder in the comparable silence. Hundreds of eyes watched her as she walked towards the front of the room. She kept her head forward and refused to look away. She might throw up if she did. Avyn hadn’t been expecting the ghosts which, in hindsight, was _stupid_. But they had been a very unwelcome surprise and now she felt more off-balance in the crowded room.

Still, Avyn crossed the floor and the tall woman picked the hat up and set it on her head. Avyn closed her eyes.

 _Well, well, well! It’s been two generations since I was placed on an Arova!_ The hat chuckled and Avyn felt the last of her goodwill wither.

Great. Now she was being compared to great-grandma by the hat.

 _It’s Ayres now._ Avyn snipped back. The hat chuckled, unconcerned with the time it was wasting.

 _Yes, of course. You are multi-faceted, young Avyn. But we both know your path._ The hat said. Avyn’s hands curled around the stool and she felt sweat bead on the back of her neck.

 _You can’t put me in Ravenclaw? I’m very studious, I love books._ Avyn protested weakly. It wasn’t that she had anything against her family’s traditional house it was just…it was her family’s _traditional house_. The comparisons would never stop if she was sorted there.

 _That’s true but what do you use the knowledge for? Knowledge is power to you, Avyn Ayres. It is not something you collect for the sake of collecting. The same with your loyalty. I see in you a heart that would do anything for your family, but that loyalty is hard-earned and prized by only a few. You do not extend this loyalty to strangers, you are very distrusting and suspicious of them._ The hat explained to her. Avyn tried not to huff, she knew herself perfectly well, she didn’t need some old musty hat to tell her these things.

 _No mentions of bravery?_ She couldn’t help but throw-in. But the hat didn’t rise to the bait, instead chuckling lowly in her head.

_Not in the Gryffindor way, no. We both know that you truly belong in—_

“—Slytherin!” The hat shouted for the rest of the students and professors to hear. Avyn’s robes spelled to their new color and she stood. Only a handful of people clapped, and that died down in seconds.

She walked from the hat and stool, desperately missing Ankaa, towards her new House. Slytherin had changed since great-grandma’s day, for the better, but that didn’t help Avyn now. She was the remnants of a Dark legacy that the current House wanted to forget. Avyn settled at the end of the table and ignored the way her new housemates whispered among themselves, shooting her dirty looks.

The rest of the Sorting passed by in a blur. Name after name was called and sorted, with Avyn only catching a few names here and there.

“Elizabeth Caballero…Gryffindor!”

“Marshall Damon…Gryffindor!”

“Paige Karahalios…Hufflepuff!”

“Alexis Kenyon…Slytherin!”

“Jordan Hsu…Hufflepuff!”

“Eshe Nejem…Ravenclaw!”

“Carter Weston…Slytherin!”

Avyn was brought out of her haze as a girl plopped down in front of her, a flurry of green robes and long arms. She blinked in surprise as the girl twisted to see the next student her walk towards the Ravenclaw table.

“Aw, sweet! She got Ravenclaw!” The girl whirled back around towards Avyn, her long thin black braids swinging as she did so. “I’m Carter! Who are you again?”

“I’m—” Avyn responded on instinct before the shock caught up with her. Carter was _talking_ to her, she didn’t _know_ who Avyn was. Muggle-born? Half-blood who was horribly out of the loop?

“Wait, wait, wait. Lemme’ guess,” Carter interrupted Avyn before miming out an exaggerated thinking pose.

 _Is she serious?_ Avyn felt her heart pound and her hands started to shake. She quickly hid them under the table. Avyn didn’t know what was happening. What was Carter doing? Did she seriously not know Avyn’s name? Was she teasing her? What was Avyn supposed to do in response?

She hadn’t been prepared to _interact_ with her peers!

This Carter girl unsettled her, Avyn felt suddenly wrong-footed as the world didn’t quite match up with what she expected.

“Amy? Avery? No?” Carter asked, looking across at Avyn. Her black robes almost blended in with her dark skin, but the green and silver tie popped by contrast. _Why am I thinking about this?_ Avyn thought as the other firstie Slytherins all glanced from Carter to Avyn. 

“Avyn,” Avyn said bluntly. One of the other firstie girls, Alexis Kenyon, frowned. “Avyn Ayres.”

 _“Arova,”_ an older voice coughed from down the table.

“You famous or somethin’ here?” Carter asked and now the entire table reacted. Everyone stiffened, all eyes piercing Avyn as they waited for the famous Arova temper great-grandmother was so well known for.

Instead, Avyn was frozen, heart beating too fast, her head hot and fuzzy, her throat _aching_ with sudden pressure. She didn’t know what to do, what to say. No one ever _asked_ the question, certainly not so brazenly and in such a public space. This was a behind closed doors conversation, not in front of a crowd where Avyn was paralyzed by their eyes.

“And now for our final student!” Professor Pearce interrupted, saving Avyn from answering. The entire hall turned towards the last first-year, who was shifting nervously around. She wore the normal black robes, but hers had no sleeves. Instead, they ended at the shoulder and two thin gray arms covered in blue crystals could be seen across the hall.

 _The vulture-harpy._ Avyn realized with a heady pang of relief.

Avyn collapsed forward on the table, her elbows the only thing keeping her head up. Avyn was momentarily forgotten with the spectacle of the first fully non-human student.

“Markel, She-Who-Is-Of-The-Storm,” Professor Pearce announced, and Markel stepped forward, her gray face flushed black as she walked up towards the hat. Murmurs sprung up from the students in the Great Hall.

Markel lurched with every step she took.

Her robes fell only to mid-calf and revealed two large crystal talons in the place of flat human feet. The talons were wrapped tightly around wooden bars that were attached to two make-shift flat feet, allowing her to walk on the flat floor without overextending her talons.

Markel dropped onto the stool and the old ratty hat had hardly been placed on her head before it screamed out, “Hufflepuff!”

Another round of sporadic applause followed. Markel smiled widely and rushed as fast as she could to the Hufflepuff table as her fellow housemates openly gawked at her. Hufflepuff was the last house anyone thought a vulture-harpy would be in.

Before Avyn’s own house-mates could turn back to questioning her, the Headmaster stood and announced the beginning of the Opening Feast. The food popped into existence around them, meats and salads, with bread and dessert.

Avyn only put a small helping on her plate, worried the panicky residue from Carter’s questioning and all the Slytherin’s eyes on her would ruin her appetite. She was also still getting used to British food. Avyn ignored the pumpkin juice, and instead poured herself a glass of water as she ate quickly and kept her eyes on the table. No one and nothing interrupted her and Avyn felt another pang for Ankaa rip through her.

“All right firsties, let’s show you the dungeon!” An older prefect who introduced himself as Pierre Loriss stood up at the end of the feast. Avyn and the other first-years followed them out. In total there were five girls and three boys in their year. Avyn, Alexis Kenyon, Carter Weston, Bridget Inkwood, and Delphia Cannis along with Hayden Barrows, Kyle Nettle, and Aramand Colten.

Avyn tried to keep out of Carter’s sight as the other girl circled to everyone in their year, chatting with anyone who would talk to her. They walked down the stone pathways, passing suits of armor and murmuring pictures who _stared_ at Avyn in fright until they slipped down a staircase to the dungeons. They came to a stop at a stretch of damp stone wall. There was nothing different about it than any other stretch of blank wall in either direction. Loriss cleared his throat and leaned in over them.

“Listen up firsties! The password this week is murkweed. In the spirit of inter-house cooperation, you can invite other students into the common room at the times posted on the bulletin board inside. However, you _cannot_ share the password with the other houses’ students or let them in outside of scheduled times. You do, you lose the privilege.” Loriss looked at each of them in the eyes but his eyes darted away from Avyn’s rather quickly. “Girls to the left, boys to the right, go until you see the door with your year. Here are your class schedules.” Loriss handed the papers out and they entered the common room.

Everything was green and silver. Huge green tapestries with silver embroidered snakes covered the walls, green comfy couches and chairs darted around the common room, a cluster right in front of the flickering silver fireplace. Silver rugs laid across the floor and underneath pale wood tables, chairs, and bookshelves scattered throughout. The lake wrapped around one side of the common room, the waters currently empty for now but Avyn knew Merpeople swam in the lake. _Do they ever come close to the glass?_ She wondered as she followed the girls to the bedroom and ignored Inkwood and Cannis’ backward, fearful glances.

Warm lights were charmed to the bedroom walls, fake windows between each bed that let blurry moonlight spill across the floor. There were five green beds, each with a desk and wardrobe next to it and a tiny nightstand right beside the head. The door to the bathrooms was to the immediate right of the entryway door.

“I call this bed!” Carter ran and jumped on the middle bed in the group of three against the far wall. As soon as she spoke the words and jumped on the bed, Carter’s trunk and other luggage appeared at the foot of the bed. Avyn looked at the two other girls who were still pale-faced and glancing at Avyn in fear. Kenyon hadn’t spoken to her yet, but she was still frowning at Avyn in something that looked strongly like disapproval.

Avyn sighed and bit the bullet, walking over to the bed next to Carter, closest to the door and bathroom and furthest away from the two beds across from the three.

“I’ll take this one,” she muttered and set down. Just as with Carter’s as soon as she touched the bed and spoke Avyn’s luggage appeared at the foot of her bed. She busied herself with unpacking and putting her clothes up to hang as the other girls chose their beds and started unpacking.

Kenyon chose the bed on the opposite side of Carter while Cannis and Inkwood chose the two together across from Carter and Kenyon. Carter was chatting to them and Alexis, maybe trying to bring Avyn into the conversation as well, but Avyn was ignoring them.

After Avyn had put away her clothes and stacked her books on her desk she took out the small portable owl stand and set it up on her nightstand. It was rather flimsy, but it would do until she could go to the Owlery where they kept the cages the owls came in and transfigure it back into Ankaa’s usual perch.

With the stand set up along with fresh water and a little food dish, Avyn took out the special whistle she made and blew three short bursts into it. _Find me._

Avyn slipped the whistle into her robe pocket and sat at the foot of her bed, waiting. Hardly ten minutes passed before she heard the rustle of feathers and a red and white head poked its way out of the small vent close to the ceiling. Ankaa cocked her head as a smile broke over Avyn’s face. She held out her arm and whistled and Ankaa flew down to perch on her outstretched arm. She cooed and nipped at the hand Avyn raised to ruffle her feathers.

“Oh my gosh!” Carter’s loud voice startled both Avyn and Ankaa. Avyn looked up to see Carter had run-up to her, brown eyes fixated on Ankaa. “Your owl’s so pretty Avyn! I’ve never seen a red barn owl before! She is _so_ red!” Carter was practically vibrating and Avyn was struck with the sudden insight that Carter wanted to _pet_ Ankaa.

“U-uh thanks—”

“Owls are supposed to be kept in the Owlery,” Alexis interrupted Avyn. Both Carter and Avyn turned to look at the girl who stepped up next to Carter. Her arms were crossed over her chest, red hair disturbing similar to Ankaa’s shade.

“Pets are allowed in the dorms. Inkwood has a cat,” Avyn pointed out, pointing to the yellow tabby that was curled up on the other girl’s bed. Kenyon’s creased forehead and frown didn’t disappear.

“Yes, but _owls_ are supposed to be kept in the Owlery, it’s clearly written in the Hogwarts rulebook. You can’t have your owl here, it’s against the rules,” Alexis repeated. Avyn stared at her, open-mouthed.

“But Alex…” It was Carter who complained, not Avyn. “She has a little stand for her pet! The owl’s no different than a cat—”

“But it is, otherwise it wouldn’t be mentioned in the rulebook. Besides, what if the owl gets lonely?” Kenyon asked, looking between Avyn and Carter like they were both involved in this conversation. Cannis and Inkwood ignored them, not even looking their way.

“Ankaa can fly back to the Owlery if she gets lonely,” Avyn mumbled, holding Ankaa close to her. She didn’t know why Alexis was being so insistent about Ankaa staying in the Owlery. She was a _pet_ (a familiar) she should be able to stay in the dorm room.

Avyn half expected Alexis to try and grab Ankaa right now and forcibly take her back. Keeping Ankaa close also had the benefit of restraining the owl herself who did _not_ like Alexis’ suggested plan. _You cannot peck her eyes out!_ Avyn gave Ankaa a little glare. Ankaa ignored her.

“It’s against the rules. Take her back or I’m telling a professor,” Alexis threatened and with a flourish walked out of the dorm, back down to the common room. Cannis and Inkwood were hot on her heels, leaving only Avyn and Carter in the dorm.

“That’s not very nice,” Carter muttered, crossing her own arms. _It’s not your owl she wants to get rid of._ Avyn couldn’t help but think, confused about why Carter seemed so upset. _Unless she wanted to keep her own owl in the room too?_ “I wouldn’t worry too much, Avyn! What professor is really going to care about the difference between an owl and a cat?” Carter tried to _reassure_ her.

Avyn was so startled she panicked and raised Ankaa up, offering her to Carter.

“You…did you want…you wanted to pet her?” Avyn finally got out. She felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment, the flush darkening at Ankaa’s laughing trill. Carter was oblivious though, instead, her face lit up in a smile and she turned fully back to Avyn.

“Ye-eah! I wanted to get an owl, but Mum said to me and Nikki had to share one this year ‘cause she thinks I’d use an owl to play pranks. Which I would _obviously_ do, but I’d use the owl for mail too! And cuddles! But Mum said Nikki was more responsible, so _she’d_ keep the owl and instead I got this old grumpy half-kneazle! I have no idea where the cat went off to though, his name is Mr. Grumpypants, he is the _oldest_ cat I’ve ever seen!” Carter continued to ramble on and Avyn realized she was trapped now but maybe Carter wasn’t trying to be mean to her earlier and _someone_ in her house would talk to her.

~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the night passed quietly after that.

Carter eventually got bored of petting Ankaa and went downstairs to the common room. Avyn stayed upstairs, though. She was too overwhelmed with all the people around her. She didn’t think she could take a single more moment of being unnecessarily surrounded.

Instead, Avyn sat at her desk and reviewed her schedule for her classes tomorrow. She’d been able to start on all of the reading after she’d gotten her Hogwarts letter so Avyn felt vaguely competent in her own abilities. Avyn had practiced magic before when she thought she was going to be homeschooled and her first tutors tried to help her control her accidental magic. Avyn expected that would give her a bit of an edge over other purebloods and half-bloods and a definite head-start on the muggle-borns. Until she could accurately measure her progress against other witches and wizards her age, Avyn would take every advantage she could get.

She wondered for a brief moment if she should try and find the library, but that required going downstairs and facing a whole room full of Slytherins, most who were afraid, if not outright hostile to her. It’d also mean trying not to run into the ghosts on her way or attract too much attention from the paintings. And Avyn didn’t even know where the library was. _I’ll stay here for now._ She marked up the rest of her books and, once it was an appropriate time, changed into her pajamas and settled down for the night, Ankaa on her stand next to Avyn’s head.

Avyn heard the other girls come back up not long after drew her bed curtains shut but not before casting a simple protection charm and noise muffling charm. _I’ll have to extend them tomorrow so Ankaa’s perch is covered too_ Avyn thought before she drifted off to sleep.


	2. What is a Normal Child? Avyn does not know the answer to this question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am BAD at tagging things so if the tags get a little wonky, it's me trying to decide if I need it or not.

Avyn woke to the sound of her wand alarm the next morning. She shuffled blearily from the bed and yawned as Ankaa hopped on her shoulder. The other four girls bustled back and forth, Carter’s voice already loud and bright. Cannis and Inkwood crowded the mirror in the bathroom and only Kenyon was remotely calm. It was something out of Avyn’s nightmares. Uncomfortable around the others, Avyn opted to change in a toilet stall with Ankaa chittering until she was allowed back up on Avyn’s shoulder. She ignored Cannis and Inkwood as she wet her toothbrush and combed her hair. Finally, Avyn returned to her desk and packed her bag for the day, Ankaa collecting pencils and pens she’d had out the night before.

Before heading downstairs with Carter, Avyn kissed Ankaa on the top of her head. Ankaa cooed and nuzzled Avyn, giving her one last nip on the fingers.

 _It’s going to be okay. You knew this would happen._ Avyn straightened her back and turned around. She knew she couldn’t bring Ankaa to class, but it was still difficult. Avyn hadn’t done a single thing without Ankaa since she hatched.

Ankaa was _always_ on her shoulder or arm (or her head when she was still a chick), watching and helping. But the other students would find it weird. Pets didn’t do that; even _normal_ familiars didn’t, not the way Ankaa did. So Avyn had to leave Ankaa behind.

“Be good,” Avyn whispered. Ankaa trilled and Avyn turned away, _conveniently_ matching Carter’s timing as she walked downstairs. Avyn wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the other girl, but Carter was a somewhat familiar face and she didn’t want to walk down into the common room alone. Especially if their head of house wasn’t there yet to escort them to class.

Avyn shouldn’t have worried, as soon as she and Carter, who just realized Avyn was beside her, walked into the common room they were called over by a small brown woman with black dreadlocks. Her amber eyes immediately locked onto Avyn and a horrible feeling started building in Avyn’s stomach.

“Now that you’re all _here_ ,” she did _not_ sound happy about that, “I will introduce myself. My name is Professor Iona Virgo. I am the Slytherin head of house as well as your transfiguration professor. Do you all have your schedules?” _Is there any way she’s not_ that _Iona Virgo?_ Avyn thought as she double-checked her schedule. “Good, we’re going to head to breakfast and when I stand up from the table you will follow me out to your first class.”

“Yes, Professor Virgo,” all eight firsties responded.

“Before we go,” Professor Virgo turned to Avyn and the bad feeling grew exponentially _worse_. She _was_ that Iona Virgo who dueled great-grandmother…the one who great-grandmother almost killed, “Ms. _Ayres_ ,” Avyn did _not_ imagine the way Professor Virgo drew out the name, “it’s been brought to my attention that you are keeping your owl in your room instead of the Owlery. This is a clear violation of school rules.” Avyn paled as the woman seemed to loom over her, “You will return your pet to the Owlery and keep it there otherwise you’ll be serving detention with me every day until the owl is returned to its proper place. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes,” Avyn whispered, hot tears pricking at her eyes. Professor Virgo glared at her and she hastily added, “Professor Virgo, ma’am.”

Professor Virgo twirled around and started walking towards the door. Carter shot Avyn a pitiful look and but Avyn looked away. She refused to look at Kenyon.

Avyn followed her year-mates to breakfast and only picked at her food. She’d lost all appetite and wanted nothing more than to curl up into a little ball and disappear. She missed Papa. She missed Ankaa. She missed Mip and Pip. She wanted to go _home_.

Avyn nibbled on some toast and an orange. Her neck was starting to hurt form her bent over position, but she couldn’t bear to look up at her house-mates’ faces.

Once Professor Virgo stood all of the first-year Slytherins stood and followed her out. Avyn glanced over her schedule, classes she had been looking forward to now just gray and dreary. Professor Virgo led them back down into the dungeons for their first potions class and gave them vague directions for the rest of their classes after looking at each of their schedules. She gave Avyn a squinty look upon seeing Avyn had signed up for Magical Theory on Fridays during her third block free break but eventually gave her directions to the room.

Avyn and the other Slytherins entered the classroom to see the Gryffindors still hadn’t yet arrived. Knowing potions wasn’t her strongest subject, Avyn took a seat at the front of the classroom. The potion tables were three across and three deep.

“Hey, you mind if I work with you? I’m bollocks at potions though, just so you know,” Avyn looked up to see Carter standing next to her. Avyn reluctantly nodded and moved her things to the side. She brought out her dog-eared potions book and set it on the table along with her paper and quill. The quill was one of Ankaa’s molted feathers and Avyn felt herself sink further into her dark mood.

“Avyn?” Carter spoke, this time more hesitantly. Avyn grunted but didn’t look up from the notes she had made, theorizing which potions would be taught in the first week or two. “I’m…sorry about what Alexis did. That was real mean of her, telling Virgo about your owl. Even worse that Virgo’s gonna make you send her back to the Owlery.”

“Thanks,” Avyn meant it…kind of. She just wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. _It’s…fixable._ Avyn admitted to herself. The solution would just be more work and she’d have to coordinate with Papa just in case. Avyn knew Ankaa would throw a fit and Avyn really _would_ have to make sure Ankaa wasn’t alone with Kenyon unsupervised. Ankaa had a vicious streak a mile long. But if Kenyon or Professor Virgo thought she was going to go without her familiar they were _wrong._

Carter didn’t speak again as the Gryffindors filed in and their potions professor with them. He was a well-dressed man, a bit younger than the other professors, closer to the Headmaster’s age. He had shiny black hair and two dimples that appeared as he smiled at the class.

“Good morning everyone! My name is Professor Bran Colten and I will be your potions professor. Please turn to page fifty-three and we will start looking over the theory for pepper-up potion.” Avyn did as he said and picked up her quill, ready to write.

The first potions class was simple and for that Avyn was grateful. Potions wasn’t Herbology, but it still wasn’t _logical_ like Charms or Transfiguration. The class covered basic potion making theory and went over the ingredients and uses of pepper-up specifically. When Professor Colten asked questions Avyn answered them and won Slytherin a total of ten points. The rest of class was dedicated to potion making safety and equipment with Professor Colten promising they’d start brewing next class.

~*~*~*~*~

“Wow, Avyn! You’re really good at potions!” Carter said as they wandered to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Avyn blushed and looked away from the stares of her year-mates. Carter was loud and every time she spoke everyone within a fifty-foot radius turned to stare, including the paintings who stared at Avyn with unabashed horror.

“Thanks, my papa showed me that one,” Avyn said, meeting Carter’s excited black eyes.

“Is he a potions master?”

“Sorta. He has some contract work but it’s mostly just a hobby.” Goblins didn’t usually take sides in wizarding wars and despite great-grandmother’s…beliefs never closed the Arova vaults. Papa, once he proved his blood connection, was given full control over all of the ancestral vaults. They were the last of their family line. Since Papa never had a formal wizarding education, he was unable to get his license so potion making was a very expensive hobby.

“That’s _wicked_ cool!” Carter insisted as they walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts. “So, you’re a…what’s the word…a pureblood? Both of your parents are magic?” Carter asked as they took their seats. This was another class they shared with Gryffindors and Avyn was happy Carter chose to sit next to her again. Maybe she wouldn’t be as ostracized as she first thought…

“I think so, I never knew my mom,” Avyn shrugged and waved away Carter’s sudden apologies, “and my papa was raised in the village around Koldovstoretz but he attended muggle school. Koldovstoretz is the Russian wizarding school,” she added at Carter’s blank look, “so I guess I’m technically a pureblood, but I know a lot about muggles. Our old house in America had internet,” and wasn’t it a _pain_ trying to convince Mip and Pip that the Arova manner should get Wi-Fi, “are you muggle-born? Or a half-blood?” Avyn asked as she pulled out her books.

“Totally muggle-born! My parents were _so_ surprised when Professor Virgo showed up with letters for Hogwarts for me and my twin! Dad almost fainted when Professor Virgo transfigured some champagne into kittens! Luckily one of our neighbors was a witch and we knew her, so it made things a bit easier.” Avyn nodded and then sat up when their next teacher entered.

“Good morning students! I’m Professor Mont Scorpio, welcome to defense against the dark arts. Let’s start doing some spell-work, hands-on work is always the best!” Their teacher had a large white smile and bright red eyes that contrasted with his dark skin. _He’s not fully human either._ Avyn thought as she stood up. Professor Scorpio was either bald or his hair was so short Avyn couldn’t properly see it. Instead of robes he wore dueling leathers.

Professor Scorpio waved his wand and their desks floated up to the ceiling to hang suspended in mid-air. He turned back to the students and the suddenly clear floor space for demonstrations.

“I know it’s the first day but I want to see what spells you’ve read in your textbooks,” Professor Scorpio laughed at the sudden groaning from some Gryffindors and Slytherins, “we’ll start going over Dark creatures later, don’t worry. Who wants to volunteer first?”

Kenyon’s hand shot up and Professor Scorpio called on her to come forward.

“Miss Kenyon, please perform _lumos_ and _flipendo_. Do you remember the wand movements?” Kenyon nodded and took a deep breath.

“Am I performing _flipendo_ on you, Professor?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, I’m pretty sturdy,” Scorpio smiled and the class laughed. _This is an effective dueling strategy._ Avyn realized as Kenyon raised her wand. It was basic, yes, but they were first years and it really was a smart way to introduce them to practical applications.

“ _Lumos!_ ” Kenyon cast and the tip of her wand sparked a cool glow. Avyn waited for it to grow stronger or for her to continue on to _flipendo_ when Professor Scorpio’s attention was misdirected but Kenyon did neither. She kept the _lumos_ spell glowing for almost a full thirty seconds before it died out. _Does she not know_ nox _?_ Avyn wondered. _Maybe she’s muggle-born too?_ But that made no sense because these were text-book spells, not ones only available in a magical home. “ _Flipendo!”_ The spell struck Professor Scorpio and he tilted back on his heels before resuming his stance.

Avyn’s confusion worsened once Professor Scorpio started to clap and congratulate Kenyon. The Gryffindors and other students whispering in awe at her demonstration. _But…she failed? The spells were too weak, she didn’t manage the correct dueling follow-up._

Avyn stood aside as student after student volunteered. Most managed to produce _lumos_ but only a handful successfully cast _flipendo_. Several times Professor Scorpio stopped the lesson to walk whichever student through the wand movements and pronunciation. One Gryffindor student, Daniel Vernon, practically lit up whenever Scorpio praised him.

“ _Pst,_ are you okay?” Carter whispered next to Avyn. “You know, if you don’t think you can do it, Professor Scorpio won’t get mad.”

“That’s not—”

“Miss Ayres, why don’t you try?” Professor Scorpio asked before Avyn could rebuff Carter. She wasn’t afraid! These spells were _easy_ why was everyone else having so much trouble? Avyn thought her _flipendo_ might be better than the others’ because it was a force and air spell and those came much more naturally to her but…this was _nothing_.

“Professor…are we trying our hardest with the spells?” Avyn eventually asked, ignoring the mutters behind her. She twisted her wand in her hand, wondering if somehow she’d misunderstood the instructions.

“Yes Miss Ayres, we are,” he smiled at her like she’d been telling a joke.

“So I should…try my hardest?” Avyn asked again, still feeling like she was _missing_ something important. DADA spell applications were dueling based, not just demonstration according to her book. Avyn felt unsettled and at that moment, she desperately missed Ankaa’s familiar weight on her shoulder.

“ _Yes,_ Miss Ayres, now please cast your spells, class is almost over.” Professor Scorpio said again, this time a hint of irritation in his voice. Avyn nodded and squared her feet into a dueling pose she’d seen in her book. She took one deep breath and raised her wand. _He said just a_ lumos _and_ flipendo _so I shouldn’t cast_ nox _on the rest of the room._

“ _Lumos!_ ” Avyn cast the spell, keeping her wand loose, ready to cast again. She put as much force behind the spell as she could, fire and light spells weren’t her specialty and _lumos_ wasn’t the most powerful light spell to begin with. It took a lot of concentration, but her wand lit up just as Avyn closed her eyes.

Avyn felt her magic drain, her limbs heavier than when she first cast the spell, but it did its job.

The room was suddenly filled with searing white light.

“Ah!”

“What the—”

“My eyes!”

The cries came from her classmates but Avyn didn’t pay attention. Instead, she whispered a quick _nox_ under her breath and the blinding light cut off just as abruptly. The others were blinded now, from the sudden intense light to almost nothing by comparison. Avyn didn’t hesitate to cast the next one.

“ _Flipendo!”_ Her spell smacked into Professor Scorpio who was just as blinded as the students, Avyn hadn’t given him time to cast a curing charm or anything else that could restore his sight. Her spell hit him, and Professor Scorpio went head over heels and smacked into the far wall.

The room was dead silent.

Avyn straightened up from her pose and looked back. Every last face was staring at her in horror. Even Carter took a step back, eyes wide with fear. _What? That was the purpose, wasn’t it? A_ lumos _to blind your opponent and then a_ flipendo _to follow up._ Of course, the more spells they learned the more they could expand on the tactic, but it was still a good strategy, especially for the first day of class.

Professor Scorpio groaned and stood up.

“ _Stupefy!”_

Avyn was turning back around, ready to ask how she did. It was only the flash of light out of the corner of her eye, a brief moment that had her drop painfully to the ground. Her knees cracked against stone as the spell flew overhead. It hit one of the students behind her and the Gryffindor dropped to the ground.

 _Something’s wrong._ Professor Scorpio’s red eyes were glassy. _He doesn’t see us._

“P-professor?” Avyn risked speaking as she drew her wand back up. _This can’t be part of the lesson…can it?_ But her shout seemed to drive the worst of the haze from his mind. Professor Scorpio shook his head, clutching at it as if he were in pain.

 _He did hit it pretty hard on the wall._ Avyn absently wondered why he didn’t have a rooting spell on the tip of his tongue.

“V-very good, Miss Arova,” Professor Scorpio said and didn’t seem to notice the mixed-up name. Avyn tried not to wince, especially as the mutters picked up _even more_ behind her. Words like _Dark witch_ and _blood purist_ and _that Arova_ were being thrown around far too much for her comfort.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I thought the goal of the exercise was to—”

“You _attacked_ our Professor!” A new voice interrupted. A black-haired Gryffindor wearing _sunglasses_ of all things pushed his way to the front. His cheeks were a blotchy gold and even though she couldn’t see his eyes, Avyn _knew_ he was glaring at her.

“I thought—”

“It doesn’t matter what you _thought_ , you _attacked_ our professor!” The boy shouted even louder.

“That’s not—”

“Enough!” Professor Scorpio raised his voice and they quieted down. “This was an accident,” _no it wasn’t_ Avyn thought near tears, “Miss Ar—excuse me Miss _Ayres_ completed the spells just like the rest of you did. Look over your textbook for next time and practice the wand movements and incantation. I want all of you able to cast the spells correctly by next class, alright?” The students muttered their agreement and Professor Scorpio let them out of class.

 _Only one more class, after flying you’re free._ Avyn reassured herself. She spent an extra amount of time gathering up her books once Professor Scorpio set the desks down and made sure to walk as slowly as she could so she wouldn’t be in the middle. Carter rushed ahead to talk to the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins. They had this class together too.

_It’s not like it can get any worse._

*~*~*~*~

It got much worse.

As the Slytherins and Gryffindors walked out onto the pitch Avyn spotted a figure she only knew from old photographs and books. The white woman was small with a black bob. She was bent over, laughing loudly at something an older student told her before rushing off.

 _No. No, it can’t be._ Avyn thought, her feet suddenly frozen to the ground.

But Avyn didn’t know the _rest_ of the Zodiac would be here either. She and Papa had only been in Britain for a few months, no one _told_ them these things. So why wouldn’t she be here?

“Gather around firsties!” The professor called and Avyn considered running. Running back inside the castle, up to her room. Running back home to Papa and begging him to never send her to another wizarding school again.

But Avyn couldn’t and with barely concealed panic she stood as far away from the professor as she could without being conspicuous. “Professor Gem Dyad at your service! Grab a broom and follow me.”

 _She’s spry for ninety-six._ Avyn thought hysterically, forgetting that witches and wizards didn’t age like muggles. Avyn picked up a broom, her hands shaking like Papa’s in one of his bad episodes.

Avyn’s contamination zone had returned as her year-mates refused to go near her. They were told to line up but the space between Avyn and the others was double the others.

_Just get it over with._ Avyn squeezed her eyes shut as Professor Dyad walked up and down their rows, inspecting how they held the brooms.

It was obvious once she spotted Avyn.

Her steps paused and Avyn _felt_ the icy aura that chilled the air.

It was quite literal, Avyn’s breath came out frosty at the professor’s display of magic.

“Open your eyes, Miss Ayres, I won’t have you disrupting class,” Professor Dyad’s voice was cold and emotionless.

 _Yes, aunty,_ the horrible words were on the tip of Avyn’s tongue and she swallowed them down with force. Instead, she did as she was told, Avyn opened her eyes and met her great-great-aunt’s furious black eyes.

Professor Dyad stepped closer and Avyn hardly dared to breathe. She heard her year-mates horrible muttering start again, _they all needed to learn to mind their own business_ , as they looked between Professor Dyad and Avyn.

The resemblance was uncanny, Avyn knew. After all, Avyn looked _exactly_ like her great-grandmother and Gem Dyad ( _Arova_ ) was great-grandmother’s identical twin.

“I was _firmly_ against your enrollment into this fine establishment, Miss Ayres. You will behave in my class and not cause trouble. If I have _any_ reason to think your actions endanger your classmates, I will march you up to the Headmaster by your ear and keep you there until he expels you, do you understand me?” Professor Dyad stared into her eyes and Avyn fought the sudden spark of rage down.

 _You abandoned us! You killed great-grandmother and did nothing to help Grandfather, Papa, or me afterward. You have no right to insinuate anything!_ But Avyn remembered Professor Scorpio’s body smacking into a stone wall and she swallowed the words down.

“Yes, Professor Dyad.” Avyn bowed her head and her great-great-aunt walked away.

Flying class did not improve from there.

This was one class Avyn had both been looking forward to but was also nervous about. She’d never been on a broom before, but the thought of _flying_ was amazing! She listened as Professor Dyad went over the instructions of how to mount and dismount, how to perform basic maneuvers in the air and how to land.

For the last segment of class, she encouraged them to try hovering but warned them anything else would get them a quick detention. Avyn did as instructed but as soon as the broom was between her legs, she felt uneasy.

Unbidden, Papa’s past words came to mind.

 _Please Avyn, I know you want to fly but…be_ careful. _I can’t…I can’t lose you too. Brooms can be extremely dangerous, you need someone to teach you and make sure you don’t get hurt._ Avyn’s hands shook where she gripped the broom. She glanced up at Professor Dyad who alternated between encouraging the other first-years and glaring at Avyn.

 _If I fall…will she catch me?_ Avyn’s breath caught. Great-great-aunt Gem had killed great-grandmother and there were rumors that she helped kill Grandfather.

Avyn had no idea if they were true. Papa didn’t either, he’d only been ten when Grandfather had died. But the rumors persisted none-the-less and the Russian witches and wizards had warned Avyn never to contact her great-great-aunt if she could avoid it.

 _She won’t catch me._ Avyn decided as she looked into Professor Dyad’s empty black eyes.

“Miss Ayres, I do believe you’ve received your instructions. Failure to obey will lead to a detention,” Professor Dyad spoke, her words seemingly summoned by Avyn’s thoughts.

“Yes, Professor Dyad,” Avyn whispered and tightened her shaking hands around the broom’s handle. It was standard school issue, worn and fraying wood from being handled so often.

Avyn took a deep breath and nudged the broom upwards. Immediately her stomach dropped and she felt horribly unsteady.

The broom was too thin between her legs, how could someone _balance_ on this? Avyn gripped the handle tighter as she swayed back and forth. The broom wasn’t quite _rolling_ but it wasn’t stable.

The other children had flown higher into the air and a few started to drift in slow circles around the pitch. Avyn still hovered just above the ground, eyes locked onto the green grass below. If she fell the worst she’d do was sprain something at this height. If she went any higher…

Avyn gulped as Professor Dyad started walking towards her, broom in one hand the other clenched into a tight fist by her side. It was panicked instinct that had Avyn jerking her broom upwards and almost toppling off as a result.

Avyn wasn’t sitting on the broom, she was bent over arms and legs wrapped around it. _Don’t turn over, please don’t turn over._ The image of the broom flipping and Avyn being dragged back down to the earth by unforgiving gravity was sickening. Her stomach lurched and for the second time, that day tears pricked at her eyes.

She wanted off the broom.

She didn’t want to be anywhere near her great-great-aunt.

She wanted to forget Hogwarts even existed and go _home_.

All around her Avyn heard snickers from her classmates and while they _could_ have been about anything, she was willing to be it was her pathetic display. At the very least her sudden upshoot forced Professor Dyad to walk away. She was staring up at them from the ground, broom between her legs now, just in case they needed help.

For the rest of class, Avyn clung to her broom, nudging it this way and that only when she felt Professor Dyad’s stare boring into her or one of the other kids came too close and swiped at her.

The first time it happened, a Gryffindor whose name she didn’t know, Avyn panicked and almost lost her hold. _I can’t fall, I can’t fall. If Papa gets even one call that I was injured while flying…_

Avyn didn’t want to imagine his reaction. He’d be so upset he might be bedridden for weeks. His tremors _always_ acted up under extreme stress and broom related incidents easily topped the list. Papa had watched his own father fall to his death from a cursed broom, Avyn _couldn’t_ bear for him to get a call about her.

It’d break Papa.

Finally, Professor Dyad summoned them back down to the pitch when class ended. Avyn carefully shuffled upright until she was sitting up straight. The broom lurched underneath her before it stabilized. Avyn dipped it down and the broom spiraled down. She managed to land and nearly collapsed off the accursed thing, breath coming too fast and her hands soaked in nervous sweat.

“Looks like some of you are naturals,” Professor Dyad smiled brightly as she looked over the students, “others, however, should stay grounded lest they have an accident in the sky,” her eyes met Avyn’s. _Is that a threat?_ She gulped and rubbed her hands on her robes.

Professor Duo dismissed them for a late lunch and Avyn practically ran away from the woman. She had a bad feeling flying class wouldn’t improve from thereon.

[Slytherin Avyn Ayres](https://www.deviantart.com/aeryker/art/Slytherin-Avyn-Ayres-Arova-826422601?ga_submit_new=10%3A1578610536)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure when I'll update next. I'm thinking about doing bi-weekly updates because I KNOW college is going to kick my ass once it starts back up but I want to keep working on this fic. Tune in around Jan. 9th for an update!
> 
> *Edit, now with art and link above to Avyn's picture because I do NOT know how to properly embed pictures.


	3. The Most Unlikely of Friendships

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! The next chapter is here :D. Also, art has been added to this chapter and the last! I won't have time to do a drawing for every chapter, but I hope you enjoy them. 
> 
> I know I tagged bullying in the general tags, but just be aware it's pretty constant, especially in the early chapters so if that's something you're really sensitive to, please be careful! 
> 
> Also, Avyn mentions "CORM" (Council of Russian Magic, I pronounce it as "SORM" but I wanted to keep "council" in the acronym) in this chapter, because I couldn't find the canon governmental acronym the Russian witches and wizards. Fun fact "council of Russian magic" in Russian would be "совет русской магии" (CPM) the letters pronounced as "s, r, m"

Chapter 3

After class Avyn wandered to the Great Hall to eat. She ate quietly and by herself. Students with the same lunch slot, mostly younger years, freely mixed and mingled with one another.

The strict ordering at tables only seemed to be for dinner or special occasions as the same thing happened this morning with breakfast. Avyn sat at the very end of the traditional Slytherin table and ate a sandwich as fast as she could. Once she was done, she left as fast as she could before the muttering students could act on their threats.

She _should_ go to the library to get started on work and read ahead in her chapters but Avyn felt awful from the events of the day. Her heartbeat was still too fast, her hands shaking even after she ate her lunch. She thought about going back to the dorm and curling up on her bed but the only thing that separated her from strangers was the curtains around her bed. She’d feel exposed even with them drawn.

Instead, she decided to go to the Owlery and call Ankaa there to tell her the bad news. _I’ll also write a letter to Papa._

*~*~*~*~*~

Avyn was lost.

It was the first day of classes and she had no idea where the Owlery was other than it had to be in a tower. She was wandering down an empty hallway, identical to the last three, filled with nothing but empty classroom doors.

“Um…excuse me,” Avyn stopped in front of a painting with a man on top of a horse. He blinked and turned to look at her. She had no time to ask her question before the painted man’s eyes widened and he jumped from his frame, unsettling the other occupants until he was out of her sight.

“Ma’am,” Avyn tried again with a portrait of an older girl dancing in a field of flowers.

“Portrait burner!” The girl screamed before she too fled her frame. It continued with the three other portraits she tried to ask for help. By the time the fifth one, a fat man with a cat, startled and scurried away she collapsed to the floor.

The tears Avyn had kept back all day burst forward and she sobbed into her black and green robes.

Was this going to be the next seven years of her life?! Avyn sobbed and sobbed until she gave herself hiccups and her eyes felt achy and hot. Trembling with too much emotion, she finally leaned back against the cool stone wall.

“Why are you crying?” A new voice whispered.

Avyn jerked up and looked around but she was alone in the hallway. All the paintings around her were still empty.

“The mirror, child, in the painting,” the voice said again. It was low and feminine but had an odd accent. Avyn couldn’t pinpoint where it was from. With one last sniff, she scrubbed her arm across her nose and stood up.

With wobbly steps, she walked forward to the paintings. In the fourth painting she’d spoken to a mirror was painted. The original painting was a woman holding a small hand-held mirror up to her face but when she fled, the mirror had remained floating in its place. The woman’s reflection was currently missing from the mirror as well and as Avyn stepped closer she saw it was an _actual_ mirror. A tiny portion of her face was reflected if she stood far enough away.

“What are you looking for?” The voice asked.

“Um…” Avyn twisted her hands in her robes, “I’m lost. Do you know where the Owlery is?” _Would a painting of a mirror even know this?_ She wondered. But at least the mirror was _talking_ to her. 

“Of course, child,” the mirror gave her surprisingly simple instructions on how to get there from her current position and then how to get back to the dungeons.

“Uh thank you…um, what’s your name?” Avyn asked once she had repeated the directions back to the mirror. The mirror chuckled, a low throaty sound.

“You may call me Fate, child. And your name?”

“Avyn. Avyn Ayres,” Avyn didn’t know what possessed her to continue but she did, “but you’d probably recognize Arova instead of Ayres,” she muttered, kicking at the ground. For some reason, the mirror, Fate, thought that was funny.

“You do not have Ni’s temperament, child, only her superficial looks,” the mirror reassured. Her eyes widened in wonder.

“Really? Everyone…everyone thinks I’m her…back from the grave,” Avyn muttered, twisting her robe again. That was the first reaction she had first received during her first trip to Diagon Alley. Only Papa’s anxiety, something she hadn’t quite understood at the time, had pulled the _protego_ spell up before the curses hit. Still, the energy for that _protego_ had Papa weak and sweaty for a week. All further trips to Diagon Alley were made under heavy illusion charms until her Hogwarts letter came.

“Then they’re fools, child. You are not a dead tyrant, no matter what they think. Go on to the Owlery before you forget the way,” Fate urged.

Avyn nodded and with that oddly happy reassurance in her heart started to walk away.

She only took a few steps away before stopping and turning back to the mirror.

“Could I…visit again?” She asked hesitantly.

“You want to visit me?” Fate’s voice was neutral.

“Um…if it wouldn’t be too much trouble? You’re the first adult that’s…spoken to me.” _I shouldn’t have said that._ She thought immediately after. It made her sound pathetic and lonely.

“If you’d like, I suppose I can’t stop you. I am not a substitute for living humans, however. Don’t forget that, child.” Fate reminded and Avyn nodded quickly.

“I will…and I’ll leave now. Bye!” She turned and ran towards the Owlery. This time she had no problem finding her way through the stone corridors while she ignored the portraits in the halls.

~*~*~*~*~

The Owlery was a huge stone room with curving walls, an angled pitched ceiling, and huge magically porous windows that allowed the owls to fly in and out while protecting the room from the weather. Innumerable perches and cubbies housed owls of every shape and size while heaps of straw littered the stone floor.

Hundreds of eyes turned and blinked as Avyn entered the dusty room before turning away once. She let out a deep breath. The smell of the owls’ food and urine wasn’t great, but the warm scent of feathers and sunlight was relaxing. The drifting dust mites in the sunlight beams felt soothing and familiar, like the Manor’s own small Owlery.

Avyn walked to a relatively quiet space, apologizing for interrupting the chirping between a tiny pigmy owl and a great gray. Both owls swiveled to her before chuffing and flying up to a higher perch. She took Ankaa’s whistle from her robe’s pocket and blew three times. She sunk to the floor and waited.

Ankaa didn’t take long. Less than ten minutes passed before familiar russet red feathers flew through one of the windows, settling on a perch as she looked around for Avyn. Avyn whistled a low note and held out her arm. Ankaa immediately lifted towards her, settling on the outstretched limb as she gave a curious tilt of her head. _Why here?_ The question was clear in her black eyes.

“You can’t stay in the dorms anymore. My head of house got upset,” Avyn whispered, looking into Ankaa’s black eyes. The owl let out a hiss, her feathers puffing up and she hopped back and forth. “I know you don’t like it, but there isn’t anything I can do to change her mind. Kenyon would tell her if I brought you back and then she’d punish me and force me to bring you here all over again.”

Ankaa’s feathers dropped and she crooned a long low note. She pulled her arm close and ran her hand over the owl’s feathers. “It’s okay…there’s always plan B,” Ankaa froze and nipped at Avyn’s fingers. She scowled at the owl and poked at her head, snatching her hand back before Ankaa could nip again.

“I know you don’t _like_ it, but would you rather be up here for seven years? I can visit all the time now but what happens when I have essays and exams? There are no desks in here and I know _you_ would be careful with books but there are more than a hundred owls in here Ankaa. They’ll get ripped apart or peed on even if it’s by accident.” Avyn argued.

Ankaa made a grumbly noise before shaking out her head and reluctantly butting her head against Avyn’s cheeks.

“ _Thank you_ ,” Avyn rubbed her hand over Ankaa’s feathers for a few more minutes before shifting the owl so she stepped up on her shoulder. “Do you think I should write to Papa? I want to but…what if he gets upset? He wanted me to go to Hogwarts so bad, but everyone is so mean,” She sniffed, scrubbing her arm over her eyes.

Ankaa grumbled and nipped at Avyn’s ear.

“Ow!” She rubbed the throbbing cartilage and tried to glare at Ankaa from the corner of her eye. “You could have just said so!” She muttered, reaching into her bag to pull out a sheet of parchment and quill. Avyn was still nervous about writing Papa but she admitted Ankaa had a point. If Papa found out later, he’d be more upset and Avyn _really_ wanted to talk to someone else about it.

~*~*~*~*~

Avyn stayed in the Owlery until dinner. After writing her letter to Papa, along with a small note and instructions to start plan B, she sent it off with a Hogwarts owl. The owl gave Avyn a strange look considering Ankaa was perched on her shoulder but agreed to take the letters when Avyn gave the screech owl one of Ankaa’s special treats. After the owl took off, she sunk back to the floor and took out her books, carefully balancing them on her lap. Tomorrow was Charms and Transfiguration and Avyn hoped Charms would be alright.

Once her stomach started grumbling and her enchanted watch pointed to dinner Avyn reluctantly left, promising to come back tomorrow. Ankaa grumbled but let herself be set on a perch with little hassle.

Avyn wandered back down to the Great Hall and took another meal alone and in silence at the end of the Slytherin table. Gossip about the day and what happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts spread quickly because more people were glaring and staring at her than yesterday.

Avyn picked at her dinner before she followed her house-mates downstairs into the dungeons. Slytherin students of all ages were sprawled in the common room, playing wizard’s chess, exploding snap, and other games Avyn couldn’t recognize. They were spread out on couches with feet and heads in each other’s laps, enjoying the lull before assignments and classwork started.

Avyn felt a heavy pang in her chest but looked away and went upstairs to her shared room. She was, thankfully, the only one there.

With a sigh she exchanged her books for the next day and picked up a muggle novel to read before bed, unable to focus on her textbooks. When Avyn heard footsteps outside the door she pulled her bedcurtains shut and squeezed her eyes closed, hoping for a better tomorrow.

Carter didn’t speak to her in the morning and both Cannis and Inkwood completely ignored her. Kenyon didn’t say anything and Avyn half-wondered if the superior smirk was real or all in her imagination. After another lonely breakfast, Professor Virgo escorted them to Charms and reminded them where her own classroom was afterward.

Avyn wasn’t even going to pretend Professor Virgo’s class was going to end well.

The Slytherins had Charms with the Hufflepuffs but Avyn still sat by herself at the front of the room. She was surprised when the tall woman who helped her with the ghosts before the sorting ceremony walked in.

_Maybe this won’t be so bad after all._

The tall woman, who stood at the front of the class and introduced herself as Professor Asherah Capricorn, _touched_ her after all. She had put her hand on Avyn’s shoulder willingly.

“Alright class, we will begin with the levitation charm. The incantation is on page four of _The Standard Book of Spells_ ,” with a wave of her wand feathers appeared in front of all the students, “please pay careful attention to the pronunciation and wand movement. I will be moving around the room to assist you all.”

She stepped away from the front of the class and walked to the desk on Avyn’s right. _Okay, okay you can do this._ Avyn was good at levitation charms. She’d practiced the other varieties as well as experimenting with how powerful she could make the original _wingardium levisosa._ It didn’t seem to work on herself, _how had great-grandmother flown without a broom,_ but she practiced with Papa’s muggle weights. She could lift almost thirty pounds; a feather was no problem!

Avyn raised her wand and cast the spell. The feather floated up without an issue. Avyn looked over to Professor Capricorn but she was still busy with the two Hufflepuff students. Avyn set the feather down and recast the spell, settling her nerves with the familiarity and entertaining herself as the feather danced in the air to absent flicks of her wand.

 _Should I try to do more?_ Avyn wanted to impress Professor Capricorn but she was hesitant after the fiasco with Professor Scorpio. _No, just stick to the single feather._ Those were the instructions, crystal clear and Avyn could follow them no problem.

Professor Capricorn rose from where she was bent over and started towards Avyn’s desk. _Alright, you can do this._ Avyn set the feather down and waited, straight-backed as the professor walked over. However, before either she or Professor Capricorn could speak a newly familiar voice cut in from behind.

“Professor Capricorn, Ayres has _obviously_ been illegally practicing magic at home. She’s had no problem with this charm and she already knew previous spells and potions from yesterday. She’s practicing underage magic and it’s unfair to the rest of the students,” Kenyon’s voice sounded from behind. Avyn felt numb as she turned around and _glared._ Kenyon’s Hufflepuff partner squeaked and looked away.

“Thank you for your opinion, Miss Kenyon. However, it is not your place to accuse other students of criminal acts without proof and in front of your peers. If you have concerns, please speak to me or another professor in private,” Professor Capricorn said, her black eyes flicking up to Kenyon before settling back on Avyn.

 _Her eyes are like Ankaa’s._ Avyn thought and then flushed.

“But Professor it’s not _fair_ —”

“Miss Kenyon, you are not Miss Ayres. It is the beginning of the school year still. No matter what background a student comes from, due diligence will separate you from your classmates. It’s important to focus on your own abilities, not others’. Miss Ayres, if you would show me your spell?”

Avyn nodded and raised her wand. For one moment she was worried Kenyon was going to cast a curse at her back or try to mess up her spell even with the professor right in front of her. But nothing happened and Avyn’s feather flicked upwards with no problem. She twirled it about in the air and looked to the professor.

“Very good,” her tone didn’t change, and she didn’t _smile_ at Avyn, but those were still the nicest words she had heard since coming to Hogwarts. “Do you know other charms?”

“Some of them. I can cast _colloportus_ and _alohomora_ well and most of the time my _spongify_ and _reparo_ ,” Avyn said. Professor Capricorn nodded at her absently.

“And your _incendio_?”

“No, ma’am,” _Papa always thought that one was too dangerous._ She wanted to say but it would sound bad after what Kenyon had just accused her of. _It_ was _underage magic, but it was sanctioned._ She thought angrily.

“Work through the wand movements and pronunciation but don’t cast it until I come back around for the second time,” Professor Capricorn said before moving onto the Slytherin duo on Avyn’s left. She nodded and flipped to the page in her textbook.

Avyn did as asked and, if she was truthful, peeked back when it was Kenyon’s and the Hufflepuff, Hsu’s, turns and smiled when Kenyon’s feather twitched but didn’t float upwards.

When Professor Capricorn returned, she summoned a small pile of twigs on Avyn’s desk. She nodded at Avyn who raised her wand and carefully said the incantation. Charms weren’t as fussy as transfiguration when it came to perfect movements, but with unfamiliar spells, it was always best to be careful. Avyn flicked her wand and a small spark lit up the twigs on her desk.

“Very good,” Capricorn said in her same neutral voice and extinguished Avyn’s flames.

~*~*~*~*~

Class ended and Avyn knew she needed to head to Transfiguration, Professor Virgo wouldn’t hesitate to punish her, she was sure, but instead, she lingered until Professor Capricorn looked back at her.

“Um, Professor, I just wanted to say…” Avyn trailed off and twisted her robe between her hands, “I really _didn’t_ break the law. I _have_ practiced the charms before, but I got permission from CORM and then MACUSA because of my early magic,” Avyn said quickly.

She didn’t want one of the tolerant professors to think bad of her. It wasn’t Avyn’s fault that her early magic was more…dangerous and chaotic than most. That was _also_ apparently an Arova trait, but one that originated from the line’s founder, Valentina. Avyn cried and glass shattered in concussive waves around her. Fires sprang up wherever she stepped. She laughed and small storms would form around her. Birds of all shapes and sizes swarmed the house watching and cooing at the tumbling toddler. Avyn’s accidental magic was nothing like ‘normal’ witches and wizards. No laughing bubbles or floating wooden blocks for her.

It was for safety’s sake CORM intervened early on before she caused an _incident._ And then _everyone_ assumed she would be homeschooled anyway so what issues did the tutors have with magic at seven or eight rather than eleven as long as they were paid? 

“Thank you for telling me, Miss Ayres, but do not feel like you have to explain your personal history to satisfy others’ curiosity. Go on to Transfiguration now, I’m sure you don’t want to keep Professor Virgo waiting.” Capricorn dismissed her and Avyn was quick to hurry outside. She wasn’t sure to be grateful or upset at the Professor’s words.

~*~*~*~*~

Unlike Charms, Transfiguration was bad.

Avyn broke and decided to sit further back from Professor Virgo rather than in front of the class like she normally did. They had this class with the Hufflepuffs again and Avyn spotted the vulture-harpy in the very back before she sat down. The girl was so blue she looked almost out of place in her Hufflepuff yellow.

Professor Virgo was a very no-nonsense teacher. She explained the theory behind transfiguration and their entire class was only about the transfiguration alphabet and formula. Avyn wasn’t as well versed in transfiguration but she knew a little about the theory. Still, Professor Virgo made her nervous enough that any knowledge she did have seemed to evaporate whenever she was called on to answer. Avyn stumbled and stuttered out her answers to snickers around her, pale face on fire as she sat back down, alone at her table, and wanted to disappear in the stone floor. She didn’t even get that many answers _wrong_ , it was just she couldn’t _speak_ properly.

After giving them an essay to research the history of transfiguration and all of the ways it was useful but could also go horribly, _horribly_ wrong, Professor Virgo let them go.

Avyn ate her lonely lunch, checked new books out from the library and retreated back to the Owlery. The librarian, Madame Minks, tolerated her and showed her how to use the library’s catalog system. She grew used to her situation and managed to avoid another Defense Against the Dark Arts incident.

Avyn sat by herself in Potions, Carter had disappeared to another table and stayed there. They started _brewing_ pepper-up on Wednesday and hers was…passable. The color was a bit off, but Professor Colten congratulated her.

When she turned in her potion, next to others that ranged from perfect to the _wrong potion_ , Professor Colten _smiled_ at her. On her way back to her desk Avyn poked and prodded at her face, making sure she didn’t have crumbs or smears around her mouth. _Why was he smiling at her?_ But she couldn’t find anything and left class more confused than she entered.

Herbology with the Ravenclaws turned out to not be as bad as Avyn feared. If she was iffy in Potions, Herbology was a bane.

It was quite simple.

Avyn didn’t like dirt, she had bad allergies, and too many magical plants wanted to eat her.

Professor Abram Taurus forced her to partner with someone, an unlucky Ravenclaw named Scott. Scott trembled if Avyn got within a ten-foot distance and not once did he look at her when mumbling. Professor Taurus either pretended not to see or didn’t care.

Astronomy that night was better. Professor Eytelia Aquarius was too focused on the stars and subsequently ignored everyone, not just Avyn. She shooed them all to telescopes with muttered instructions to look for Mars before pouncing on the vulture-harpy, demanding, of all things, her star mythos. Avyn turned away as they slipped into something that wasn’t English and looked through the lens of her telescope. Papa liked star-gazing and Avyn was familiar with the instruments and the most basic patterns in the night sky.

History of Magic was boring. From the gossip Avyn overhead during meals and in the common room it seemed like a curse on the class. The Professor that first led all of the first years to the sorting, Madeline Pearce, taught the class and the older woman seemed physically incapable of condensing information. She promised them a general overview, something Avyn was _not_ looking forward to because it would involve great-grandmother when the modern period arose, but the woman got stuck around the founding of Hogwarts trailing off as she discussed the dissenting opinions of the founders when it came to the height of towers. Whenever Professor Pearce _did_ get around to great-grandmother Avyn knew it would be _bad_ , but for now, she drifted in class, scratching absent notes and debating whether or not to nap or take out other classes’ homework.

Magical Theory was a small class filled with students from every house. There were ten students, including Avyn. When she first walked into the classroom she stopped in shock. Carter, who Avyn knew didn’t have the class, was sitting _calmly_ at one of the desks, staring dreamily at Hufflepuff girl a few seats away. She was wearing _Ravenclaw_ robes.

 _Should I approach her?_ Avyn toyed with the strap of her bag. Carter hadn’t said anything since the first day, but she’d stopped shooting Avyn horrified looks out of the corner of her eye. The looks dialed back to only vaguely fearful and nervous so…progress?

Finally, the Ravenclaw-Carter felt her stare and turned to look at Avyn. She blinked in surprise before shooting Avyn a small, _very_ small, smile.

“You must know Carter,” she said suddenly, and a small memory tried to make its way to the forefront of Avyn’s mind, “I recognize that expression. I’m Nikki, her twin,” Avyn flushed and tried to smile back.

“Avyn,” but before she could say anything else their Professor wandered in. The class was small enough that the desks weren’t doubles and Avyn cautiously took a seat next to Nikki, close to the door. The other girl shot her a look, Avyn couldn’t decide what kind of look it _was_ but it didn’t seem hostile or upset before she turned away and went back to gazing at the Hufflepuff girl.

Their professor, Lynn Hearth, was a soft-spoken woman with flat gray eyes and red frizzy hair. She smiled at each of them and didn’t really seem to _see_ them. Instead for the next hour and half her voice drifted in and out of Magical Theory, describing theories and facts and the element ordering behind spells. It was a calming class and for that Avyn was grateful.

~*~*~*~*~

Avyn’s life became a simple, but monotonous affair.

She was alone in rooms full of people but after the first week, no one seemed to bother her as long as she made herself as small as possible. She didn’t speak outside of class and even then, her voice slowly withered and quieted. She spoke only to two people, the librarian Madame Minks who she exchanged a few words with every time she went in to check out books and Ankaa.

Kenyon would occasionally shoot her glares but after Professor Capricorn’s words in Charms, she didn’t try to tattle to a teacher. Avyn went to class, wrote down notes and participated, ate quick meals by herself in the Great Hall, then immediately after went to the library and then to the Owlery.

She still meant what she said to Ankaa, it wasn’t viable to do all her work in the Owlery but Avyn was still working on her plan to allow Ankaa to, at the very least, reenter the dorm. It just took a while and she needed Papa to write very specific letters to her, he did so with a certain amount of amusement, but he did it! Avyn grew comfortable in the Owlery and all the birds were nice to her. They couldn’t be _too nice_ of course, otherwise, Ankaa would get huffy and start hopping from shoulder to shoulder, nipping at any owl who looked at Avyn.

“You’re so jealous,” Avyn laughed while stroking Ankaa’s breast feathers. The owl in question grumbled and made sure to smack Avyn’s face with a wing as she resettled.

In the ‘back’ of the Owlery, where the tower stretched around, furthest from the stairway entrance was a neat and tidy little alcove. It was colder and darker and had no good perches high up around it. Avyn thought it might have been a closet at one point, or maybe just a design in the tower’s structure. She could stand in the middle of the alcove and stretched out her arms fully before her fingertips touched the stone walls.

It was a perfect little hiding spot.

Avyn picked up charms books at the library and read until she found the spells she wanted. After that every time she visited the Owlery Avyn would cast subtle _notice-me-not_ charms and expand the little corner as far as the castle would let her, honestly, she was surprised the stone chose to inch at all. Avyn practiced conjuring up pillows, little bookshelves, and hanging warm _lumos_ charmed orbs around the space. If she had serious writing to do, she’d conjure a little desk she could sit at while Ankaa groomed her wings next to her.

Being surrounded by the owls both helped and worsened Avyn’s own loneliness. Owls were Avyn’s favorite animal and she’d never been able to be around so many at once. During her breaks she’d wonder from owl to owl, handing out treats and giving light feather scratches. The Hogwarts owls, easily identified by the small bands they wore, especially liked her. They cooed and hummed softly staring up at her with their black and yellow eyes.

“No one visits you, do they?” _You’re alone like me._

Even the owls that students brought were rarely visited. A few times students or staff would enter the Owlery to send letters but for the number of owls…it was too little. The owls were left on their own. Which, if they were wild muggle owls, would be fine, but they weren’t. They were wizarding owls who got lonely even if they could talk to each other. Ankaa huffed and puffed but eventually settled down and merely grumbled on Avyn’s shoulder.

Soon every time she came to the Owlery to study, Avyn had to drag as many moveable perches as she could back to her little homey alcove as more and more owls relocated to stand next to her and tilt their heads curiously at her work. She repeated the same instructions as she did with Ankaa, books were _delicate_ and should be left alone. Avyn didn’t have the heart to shoo them off but she just _knew_ one day a book was going to be ruined and then she’d have to explain to Madam Minks how it happened and disappoint the old woman. 

Still, Avyn liked to stand in the middle of the Owlery and open her arms while dozens of owls flocked to her, resting on her arms and shoulders as they hooted and whirred at her. She didn’t want to name them, they already _had_ names, but the names weren’t stamped on their bands and Avyn didn’t know who to ask.

“You know, you could tell me their names,” Avyn grumbled one day to Ankaa who grumbled right back at her. “I know, I know it doesn’t _work_ like that,” but she was interrupted by a sound she had never heard in her almost three weeks in the Owlery, _crying_.

It was soft and came from the opposite side of Avyn’s own little second home.

She had only been in the Owlery for five minutes or so, another long day of classes and horrible failure at Flying class. She was starting to develop a fear of brooms in general. Every time she had to get on one, she felt like she was going to throw up. She was supposed to go to the library, exchange words with Madame Minks, complain to Ankaa about her day, and then get started on her third Transfiguration essay that she would inevitably put off in favor of petting owls. Crying was _not_ part of the plan.

“Who’s crying?” She whispered to Ankaa, trying to spot the witch or wizard as she inched around the Owlery’s curve. Ankaa, unhelpfully, nipped at her ear. Avyn shot her a glare before walking forward, trying not to startle the person. The crying sounded bad even if it was relatively soft. It was the kind of gasping and choking crying that made it hard to breathe and stop. Avyn thought they weren’t going to move for a while. She wouldn’t be able to get anything done with them here.

Avyn rounded the bend and came face to face with the vulture-harpy.

Silver eyes met glowing blue and Avyn didn’t know which one of them was more shocked to see the other. Black tears rolled down the harpy’s gray and blue cheeks. She scrubbed them away, blinking as if she didn’t think Avyn was real.

 _What should I say?_ Avyn forgot about actually…interacting with the crying person.

“You…you have an owl…on your head,” the harpy sputtered.

Avyn blinked and reached up, yep, sure enough, one of the owls had landed on her head. _Maybe that’s why Ankaa nipped my ear…_ Ankaa was too big and she did _not_ like the smaller owl’s perching there.

“Uh, yeah. They do that,” Avyn shuffled the elf owl from her head to her shoulder. It chirped happily at her, nuzzling at her neck. Ankaa grumbled from Avyn’s other shoulder. The harpy was still crying, tears rolling slowly down, but her gasping sobs had lessened into sniffles.

“Is she your owl?”

“The elf owl, no. But Ankaa is,” Avyn shifted fully into view, showing the harpy her previously obscured shoulder. The harpy gasped, the crystals shaped oddly like lightning bolts on her cheeks lighting up.

“She’s so…red,” she said in excitement. Ankaa preened, twisting her head this way and that as Avyn rolled her eyes. _Show-off._ “You said she’s yours?” The harpy’s hand twitched like she wanted to reach out and pet Ankaa.

“Yeah,” Avyn bit her lip, “do you wanna pet her?” She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but the harpy was sitting here alone and crying by herself…it probably wouldn’t end _badly_.

Avyn was reassured as the wide blue eyes turned back to her, slitted pupils expanding in excitement. “Can I?” Avyn nodded and raised her hand to Ankaa’s belly. Ankaa, never one to refuse pets from admirers, stepped up on Avyn’s finger and allowed herself to be transferred to the harpy.

Ankaa looked especially red next to the harpy’s blue and gray skin, white hair, and her yellow and black robes. She cradled Ankaa awkwardly but carefully, reaching up to gently tap Ankaa’s head. She repeated the motion until she started running her hand down Ankaa’s back.

The other owls took advantage of Ankaa’s distraction and Avyn felt another elf owl join the one already on her shoulder. A _huge_ great gray landed on the opposite shoulder and a third that Avyn couldn’t see landed on her head.

The harpy stopped petting Ankaa to giggle at Avyn covered in owls. Ankaa, no longer distracted, squawked and lifted up, chasing all the others off until only she was left. Ankaa huffed and shuffled shoulder to shoulder, glaring at any other owls who looked their way.

“She doesn’t like to share, does she?” The harpy asked, smiling at her. Avyn blushed and looked away before looking back at her blue eyes.

“No, Ankaa’s very jealous,” Avyn said and took a deep breath, “I’m Avyn by the way.”

“Markel,” the harpy said and held out her hand. She splayed her fingers wide and Avyn belatedly realized it was a handshake. After a pause, Avyn reached and awkwardly hooked her thumb around the other’s and shook it. Markel’s smile widened with a dimple on each side. _She’s not running away._ Avyn thought that was a good first step.

“Um, I don’t mean to be rude but…are you okay? You _were_ just crying,” Avyn mumbled and fidgeted with her robe. Markel’s smile dimmed and she looked away, drawing her crystal knees up to her chest. Avyn absently wondered if there was any skin and blood under the heavy blue crystal or if her lower leg bones were made out of crystal instead of bone.

“Y-yeah. I had an…accident, is all,” Markel buried her head in her arms.

Avyn rocked back and forth on her heels, wondering if she should go. This was the first time in weeks that she actually had a conversation with one of her year-mates, but she didn’t want to make Markel more upset…

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Avyn asked, deciding she wouldn’t lose anything if Markel got mad and left.

Markel lifted her head and stared at Avyn. Avyn blushed and looked away, an apology on the tip of her tongue before Markel opened her mouth and started _talking_.

“W-well it started when I went back to the dorm after class. Usually, I take a nap before dinner and I did it today too. But I got out of class early because…um, there was another incident in potions. So, I was already asleep when the others came back. I’m not quite sure what happened but I think there was some kind of discussion about whether or not I was…um…Dark,” Markel’s rapid words slowed, and she peaked up at Avyn before her eyes shifted away.

“’ Cause, you know, I’m a _vulture_ -harpy.” Avyn vaguely knew harpies were in the dark- _ish_ category of magical creatures. They had language but, as far as wizarding society was concerned, no true civilization. Furthermore, there was a spectrum of sub-harpy types. Hummingbird-harpies were closer to the ‘light’ side while vulture-harpies were the ‘darkest’ of the darkish creatures. “They said…at least I think they meant…someone, I don’t know who, said I was Dark. But my housemates wanted to prove that I didn’t, _don’t_ , have bad intentions so they cast some sort of detection spell that was supposed to reveal my intentions…” Markel trailed off, hugging her knees closer to her chest. “But I was sleep and I didn’t know what was happening. I felt the unfamiliar magic and it woke me up and I reacted…badly.” Tears dripped down her cheeks.

“They shouldn’t have cast a spell on you, especially if you were asleep,” Avyn said and tried very hard not to shudder. Even if it was a harmless spell it could have easily been deadly. That’s why Avyn renewed the charms on her bed curtains every night. _But Markel probably doesn’t sleep on a bed._ She was pretty sure most harpies perched, what with their talons and all.

“Yeah…but I accidentally electrocuted another Hufflepuff…” Markel squeezed her eyes shut and hiccupped. “I think…I think Lura will be alight. It was more a surprise than anything, but everyone was upset and one of the prefects yelled at me as they were taking her to the infirmary.”

“So, you ran here.”

“Uh-huh. It’s the closest thing to home,” Markel rubbed at her eyes which were turning puffy and purplish. “If you want me to leave, I will. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

Avyn was so surprised she blurted out, “Why would I be afraid of _you_?”

“Everyone’ll think I’m Dark now,” Markel said slowly as if this were obvious. Avyn couldn’t hear any sarcasm or barbed words meant for her. _Is she…serious?_

“Markel everyone thinks _I’m_ Dark, why would I be afraid of you?” Avyn said bluntly.

“Huh? Why do they think _you’re_ Dark?”

 _She…she really_ is _serious._ For a moment Avyn thought about lying, but as soon as the thought popped into her head, she dismissed it. Even if Markel believed it, the minute she told it to anyone else, they’d immediately refute it and tell her the truth. One look in a book later and Avyn would be exposed.

“My great-grandmother was Ni Arova,” Avyn said but Markel only blinked. _She doesn’t recognize the name_. Avyn thought in wonder. Then again, Ni’s ambition had just started to spread beyond the UK when she was killed. Why would a small group of harpies care, three generations later? Even if the witch in question was a genocidal maniac? “You know, the last Dark Lord? The one that wanted to purify magic by killing every non-human magical creature in order to please some ancient twisted monster? That Dark Lord?”

“What does that have to do with _you_ being Dark?” Markel asked. Avyn was openly gaping now. _What…just…what?!_

“She’s my great-grandmother! We share blood and the exact same face!” She gestured angrily to her own face.

“But you’re…not your great-grandmother?” Markel just looked confused now. Her tears had dried and her white eyebrows were drawn low over her eyes.

“You’re supposed to be afraid of me. Or angry at me. Everyone else is,” Avyn collapsed to the floor with a huff. Ankaa shuffled on her shoulder, clicking her beak at Avyn’s dramatic gesture.

“Do you _want_ me to be?”

“…no.”

Markel shuffled around, twisting until her legs were curled up next to her as she leaned closer to Avyn.

“So, I just had an idea,” Markel said, “everyone thinks you’re Dark and everyone will think I’m Dark,” Avyn still didn’t believe it but she didn’t interrupt, “do you have any friends?”

“No.”

“Great! Me neither!” Markel smiled and Avyn felt like she was missing something. Why would not having friends be a good thing? “So, I was thinking…maybe _we_ could be friends?” Markel bit her lip, staring at Avyn with large pleading eyes.

“You…want to be friends…with me?” Avyn asked, reeling.

“Yes! Just think about it, it could be great!”

“Why didn’t you have any friends before this?” Avyn asked and realized a moment later that might have been a rude thing to say. Markel dimmed a bit, fidgeting with the crystals on her wrists. She wouldn’t look at Avyn.

“This was the…um, what’s the phrase…straw that broke the donkey’s back?” She gave a little hollow laugh before her shoulders slumped. “The reveal intentions spell wasn’t just out of the blue. My house-mates have been…uncomfortable with me since the school year started. Most have tried to be nice about it. They talk to me, but they don’t like looking at me and they avoid me if they can. No one exactly _wants_ to be my friend, they just feel obligated to. The only person I’m kinda friends with is Paige, but Paige’s expression never really changes so I don’t know how she feels. I’m afraid she doesn’t like me but won’t tell me,” Markel mumbled in another rush of words.

“I’ll be your friend—”

“Really?!”

“—but if you’re my friend, you might not make any more. People really don’t like me,” _I don’t want you to be bitter about it._ Avyn left unsaid.

“Well, I think it’ll be okay. Better to have one real friend than a bunch of people you don’t know if they like you or hate you,” Markel smiled and stuck out her hand like she was making a deal again. It was still fingers spread wide. Avyn smiled and reached out to shake Markel’s hand.

They were officially friends now.

[Hufflepuff Markel](https://www.deviantart.com/aeryker/art/Hufflepuff-Markel-826415887?ga_changes=1&ga_submit_new=10%3A1578609913&ga_type=edit)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not for the life of me figure out how to properly embed a picture in the story itself, so here is the link right above! There's also some cool information on Markel that explains exactly what a 'crystal harpy' is and looks like! :)
> 
> Also, college is starting back up again so I'm moving my updating schedule to Sundays so I have the weekend to work on and edit this fic. Check back in around January 26th for an update!


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